TACLOBAN, Philippines — TACLOBAN, Philippines (AP) — The central Philippine city of Tacloban was in ruins Saturday, a day after being ravaged by one of the strongest typhoons on record, as horrified residents spoke of storm surges as high as trees and authorities said they were expecting a “very high number of fatalities.” At least 138 people were confirmed dead in the aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan. But Philippine Red Cross Secretary General Gwen Pang said that agency field staff in the region estimated the toll was about 1,000. Pang, however, emphasized that it was “just an estimate.” Source:agencies

(Reuters) – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered the military “occupation” of a chain of electronic goods stores in a crackdown on what the socialist government views as price-gouging hobbling the country’s economy. Various managers of the five-store, 500-employee Daka chain have been arrested, and the company will now be forced to sell products at “fair prices,” Maduro said late on Friday. Soldiers immediately began guarding the stores. On Saturday morning, hundreds of bargain-hunters flocked to Daka shops to take advantage of the new, cheaper prices. “We’re doing this for the good of the nation,” said Maduro, who accuses rich businessmen…

The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Actually, it’s just a defunct satellite. The European Space Agency’s Gravity Field and Steady-State Ocean Circulation Explorer, or GOCE, satellite is falling to Earth. While the bulk of the one-ton satellite is expected to disintegrate in Earth’s atmosphere, fragments of the craft will reach the surface of the planet on Sunday or Monday. The spacecraft will likely break into as many as 45 pieces, the heaviest of which could weigh 200 pounds, before it reaches the surface. Just where will the pieces land? The agency has no idea. “It’s rather hard to predict where the spacecraft will…

(Reuters) – One of the strongest typhoons ever to make landfall devastated the central Philippines, killing more than 1,000 people in one city alone and 200 in another province, the Red Cross estimated on Saturday, as reports of high casualties began to emerge. A day after Typhoon Haiyan churned through the Philippine archipelago in a straight line from east to west, rescue teams struggled to reach far-flung regions, hampered by washed out roads, many choked with debris and fallen trees. The death toll is expected to rise sharply from the fast-moving storm, whose circumference eclipsed the whole country and which…